


Reflections

by kajivar



Category: Charmed
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-01-14
Updated: 2007-01-14
Packaged: 2017-11-20 14:13:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/586244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kajivar/pseuds/kajivar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes the damsel in distress isn't what you bargain for....</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reflections

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Dragonsinger for the 2007 Hetfic Holiday Fic Exchange.

The first time Wyatt saw the girl, he was driving home from college for the beginning of winter break. As he glanced in the rearview mirror, he saw the ghostly image of a beautiful dark-haired girl, her hand outstretched to him. "Help me, Wyatt," she pleaded, and then she was gone.

Wyatt almost swerved off the road in shock, looking from the mirror to the backseat and back again. He managed to pull over safely and inspected the mirror, but there was no sign of the girl.

The next time he saw her was two days later. He was in his bedroom at home, working on an essay due after the holidays. He heard a sound and glanced in the direction of his TV and saw the same girl reflected in the darkened glass. "Help me," she said again, then disappeared.

"Chris!" Wyatt called.

After a moment, his brother poked his head into the room. "What's up?" he said.

"I just saw a girl in my TV," Wyatt said, pointing.

"There are girls on your TV all the time," Chris scoffed. "You own all the Girls Gone Wild DVDs."

Wyatt threw a wadded up piece of paper at his brother's head. "Dude, seriously," he said. "The TV's off, but I saw her. And I saw her two days ago in my rearview mirror."

"You're serious," Chris said, coming into the room and sitting on the edge of Wyatt's bed. "What do you think it is? You should talk to Mom."

* * *

"Oh, no no no no," was Piper's reaction when Wyatt told her a short time later. "Mirrors bad! When Phoebe and Prue and I first became witches, we had to deal with a demon in a mirror. She tricked a young girl into letting her out."

"She was asking for help," Wyatt said dubiously. "I don't think she's a demon."

Piper flipped through the Book of Shadows until she found the page she was looking for. "See, read this about Kali. 'An evil sorceress cursed into her own dimension. She appears in reflections and has the power to possess innocents and use them as pawns to steal a witch’s power. To get rid of her, shatter her reflection.'"

"But you vanquished her, right?" Wyatt said. "So it can't be her."

Piper nodded. "But she could've found a way back, because if we've learned anything over the years, it's that dead demons don't always stay dead." She reached out and put a hand on her eldest son's arm. "Be careful, honey. If you see her again, call me, okay?"

The following morning, as Wyatt washed his hands in the bathroom, he glanced into the mirror, searching its surface. "Who are you?" he murmured. "Why do you want my help?" His own reflection gave no answer, and impulsively he tried a spell, touching his hand to the mirror. "Mirror, mirror on the wall, show her face; let me answer her call." He winced a little at the lame spell; the Charmed Ones' bad rhyming hadn't improved with the next generation. 

The girl appeared in the mirror. "Wyatt," she sighed happily, reaching out to him, touching her hand to his where it pressed against the glass. He felt dizzy, and the world started to spin around him, but he couldn't move his hand. He tried to call out, but he wasn't certain the words even escaped his throat before everything went black.

* * *

When he woke up, he was lying in a soft bed. He pulled the blanket around his shoulders and rolled on to his side, still half-asleep until he realized there was someone sitting next to him on the bed. "You heard me, Wyatt," a female voice said happily as a hand touched his face. "You heard my call."

Wyatt sat up, looking around in confusion before he remembered what had happened. He stared at the girl. "Who are you?" he said. "Where am I?"

"My name is Minerva," she said. She gestured about the room. "You're here. I don't know where here is, though."

Wyatt inspected the room. The walls were all made of mirrors, and there didn't appear to be any windows or doors. The bed was the only furniture in the room. "How did I get here? How did _you_ get here?" Wyatt asked.

She smiled sadly. "I don't know. I've been here forever it feels like. I haven't been able to find a way out. I tried a spell to free myself, and then I saw your face in the mirror. I've been calling to you ever since."

"You're a witch?" Wyatt said, looking at Minerva suspiciously, remembering what his mother had told him about Kali.

Minerva nodded. "My power is scrying. I use mirrors, and I can find anything anywhere," she said proudly. "But one day I was trying to find a demon and something reached out of the mirror and pulled me in here. I've been here ever since, but it's been hard to tell how long that's been."

"How did you know my name?" Wyatt said. She certainly didn't _feel_ like a demon to him, and she _definitely_ was one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen. Still, demons could be pretty, too, his mother had warned him more than once.

"I've been watching you," she said. "It took me some time to get your attention. You're Wyatt Halliwell, and your mother is one of the Charmed Ones. You have a brother named Chris, a sister named Melinda, you're going to college, you have a cute--"

"That's enough," Wyatt said hastily, blushing a little, thinking of plenty of times when he hoped he hadn't been being watched.

"You're very powerful," Minerva said, resting her hand on his arm. "You can save me, right? You can get me out of here?"

"How did you bring me in here in the first place?" Wyatt said. He thought about getting up and inspecting the mirrored walls, but that would require moving away from Minerva, and he didn't want to do that.

"I was seeking help when I cast my spell," Minerva said. "It brought you here, I guess." She frowned. "I'm sorry, I didn't know what else to do." Tears welled in her eyes.

"Hey, don't cry," Wyatt said, touching his fingers to her tears, brushing them away. "I'll get us out of here, I promise."

"I've been so lonely," she said tearfully. "I thought I would be trapped here forever."

A dozen questions came to mind, like what did she eat, but Wyatt found himself unable to voice them as Minerva slipped her arms around his neck, falling against him. His arms came up around her as she pushed him down on the bed. Her lips were on his, kissing him deeply, as her hands eagerly sought to shed his clothing. He matched her enthusiasm with his own, feeling a sudden desperation to hold her, comfort her.

They made love, then Wyatt drifted off to sleep in her arms, no longer concerned with finding a way out. He had everything he needed right here.

Time was meaningless, and Wyatt had no idea how much passed as he lay with Minerva in the bed. Sometimes he would try to bring up finding a way out, but she would smile and touch a finger to his lips, and he would forget all about everything except loving her.

One time he dreamed of Chris. The hazy image of his brother was reaching out to him. _"Wake up,"_ he pleaded. _"Wake up or you'll die.”_ He told Minerva, and she frowned. "Just a dream," she said. "Pay it no mind." But he caught her scowling at the mirror.

He fell back asleep, and when he woke again, Minerva was standing in front of one of the mirrored walls. He could see Chris in the reflection, and Minerva was chanting something softly. "What are you doing?" he said.

She spun around. "Go back to sleep," she said, smiling at him.

It was hard to resist her wishes, but he rose from the bed and moved beside her. "That's my brother," he said, frowning at the image of Chris in the mirror. His brother looked tired and worn, slumped in a chair beside a bed. He recognized his own room, then realized that _he_ was lying motionless in the bed. "What the hell...?"

Minerva snarled and shoved him back away from the mirror. "Sleep!" she snapped, but he forced himself to resist her command. He tried to use his power of telekinesis to push him away, but he felt too weak.

She recognized his attempt. "Too late for that, my love," she said. "I've drained your powers, and now I'll drain your life." She reached for his arm.

Wyatt staggered backwards. "Excalibur!" he called weakly, and somehow the sword appeared in his hand. He swung, but she easily dodged the blade, laughing at him. He tried again, missed, and the sword crashed into the mirrored wall, shattering it.

"No!" Minerva shrieked as the silvered glass fell away. He could see his room, his real room, beyond the broken mirror. Strengthened by the sight, he struck again, making a wider opening. Minerva reached for him, but his protection shield flared up, pushing her back. His powers were returning. He swung at the mirrors again.

"Wyatt!" Minerva said pleadingly. "Don't! Don't leave me!"

He slowly turned back to her. Her voice compelled him to obey, but he fought it off. She had been trying to kill him. And he knew he had interrupted her attempt to harm Chris. Nobody hurt his family and got away with it. Nobody.

"That's it," she purred. "Put the sword down. Come back to me, my love."

"No," he said. He gathered his resolve and stabbed the sword into her chest.

He awoke in his bed, sitting up with a gasp. "Wyatt!" Chris exclaimed. "Mom! He's awake!"

Then Piper and Leo and Melinda were in the room, hugging him close, crying joyful tears. "What happened?" he coughed when they let him breathe.

"Chris found you in the bathroom," Piper said, squeezing his hand. "You've been in a coma for three weeks."

"Minerva," Wyatt said, still dazed. "She pulled me in the mirror. She was sucking my powers away."

"We were using magic to keep you alive," Leo said. "But that only bought us a little time. We were afraid we were going to lose you."

"You were right about the mirrors, Mom," Wyatt said, settling back on his bed. He still felt weak, but his strength was returning.

"And you're a sucker for a pretty girl," Chris teased, but there was obvious relief in his voice.

Later, when his family finally left him to get some rest, Wyatt searched all the reflected surfaces in his room for a sign of Minerva. He had hurt her, but he didn't know if he had killed her. Part of him felt bad about what he had done, but he knew it was just the residual effects of whatever power she was using on him. Still, he had a sense that his feelings for her would linger. It hadn't all been false.


End file.
